Saturday, September 11, 2010

New Foster Rabbits: Tootsie and Blackjack

Tootsie isn't really that new. I was trying to bond her with Ruth (whom I've posted about before), but Ruth got adopted out as a single rabbit, so now I'm trying to bond her with Blackjack. Ruth is a stray and Blackjack was surrendered because his owners no longer had enough time for him.

So far, the going has been tough, but I can see light at the end of the tunnel. Tootsie is a difficult animal to foster as she is incredibly athletic and very capable of escaping her confines. She is able to jump over an exercise pen and also open a pen. I have her penned underneath a table and I've clamped the door shut so she is unable to open it.

Tootsie seems eager to dominate Blackjack, but is perhaps nervous about doing so due to his size. He is quite large, and is very overweight. He often hops up to her and sniffs her, only to find that this causes Tootsie to run away after a few seconds. This evening she finally mustered enough courage to mount him to show him she wants to be boss. After a few minutes of scuffling, they laid down together peacefully for a few minutes. I also fed them a little salad to celebrate this milestone, which they were happy to eat from the same dish.

Absolutely. It seems that they are growing very comfortable with Tootsie being the top bunny. Another sign of dominance that I've noticed in the past couple of days is Tootsie putting her head down requesting Black Jack to groom her. He always obliges. :)

I agree with you. I think after this initial period of awkwardness and confusion the rest of their life will be blissful.